Farmers on former Teves land in Negros Oriental fight eviction

MANILA, Philippines — Eleven farm-families in Bayawan, Negros Oriental thought their legal problem was over when the Department of Agrarian Reform awarded them titles to a piece of land expropriated from former Rep. Herminio Teves last November. They were wrong. The farmers are now the subject of an eviction case filed by loyalists of Teves, who the beneficiaries of illegal entry. In question is a 61-hectare land located in Barangay Villareal of Bayawan City, which the DAR awarded to Victoriano Cordero and 29 other farmer beneficiaries after 10 years of legal battle. The beneficiaries were formally installed by the DAR officials led by Regional Director Rodolfo Inson on Nov. 12, assisted by police officers led by deputy provincial director Supt. Julius Nuñez and witnessed by Teves’ children Arnold and Pamela. Two weeks later, however, Teves’ farm workers led by Rodrigo Padilla filed a case of illegal entry against the installed farmer-beneficiaries before the Bayawan prosecutor’s office. Prosecutor Ernesto Valencia later ruled that he found probable cause for illegal entry filed against Cordero and 10 others by a group of farm workers employed by Teves. In a petition for review, Cordero assailed the resolution issued last February 2 by Valencia, saying the prosecutor erred in finding probable cause against them for violation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law(CARL). Petitioners said the complaint by Teves’ farm workers “[does] not warrant a finding of probable cause" since they are title holders of the land that they had occupied. They added that under Section 73(b) of R.A. 6657, “forcible entry or illegal detainer by persons who are not qualified beneficiaries under this Act" is prohibited. They said that they cannot, “by any stretch of the imagination, be prosecuted for violation of Section 73(b) of R.A. 6657 simply because [we] are qualified beneficiaries." City Prosecutor Valencia, in his resolution, said that there is cause for prosecution of the farmer-beneficiaries since there is a pending petition for inclusion-exclusion filed by Padilla and company when the property was occupied. The inclusion-exclusion petition seeks to disqualify Cordero and the 29 other installed farmers from being farmer-beneficiaries. - GMANews.TV